• Mandatory attendance • Keystone cops in action • Lionheart Mandatory attendance For all of you who want to see Koke‘e preserved in its natural state for future generations, please attend the meeting the DLNR has scheduled for Monday, Jan.
• Mandatory attendance
• Keystone cops in action
• Lionheart
Mandatory attendance
For all of you who want to see Koke‘e preserved in its natural state for future generations, please attend the meeting the DLNR has scheduled for Monday, Jan. 8 at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall at 5 p.m.
The DLNR has given us very little advance notice, and this comes right after the holidays, but it is a rare opportunity to provide our mana‘o to the DLNR about their proposals for the mountain for the next 20 years.
On Dec. 14, the community was well-represented at a meeting of the Governor’s Kaua‘i Council of Advisors: paniolo; kumu hula; hunters; tour guides, youth; elders — person after person testified passionately for over three hours, urging the governor and the DLNR to tread lightly, to preserve and protect Koke‘e from the tourist- and revenue-driven proposals currently contained in the proposed Koke‘e and Waimea Canyon state parks master plan. Despite this community consensus, it appears that the DLNR remains committed to:
• An entry station at 6.8 miles to collect fees (initially from non-residents), with three lanes of traffic; an island; separate housing for park personnel and a support building at roadside with a minimum of four parking spaces, including ADA van-accessible space. The entry booth is called an “essential component” of the plan. The truth is, the only reason for a booth is to collect money. And the money collected will go into a state fund, not earmarked for Koke‘e. It will at least double the size of the road and create traffic backups down both Koke‘e Road and Waimea Canyon Road as cars and buses are stopped to show identification, pay fees, ask questions. Once it is there, it will always be there. This appears to be part of a statewide model to charge entry to all high-traffic state parks at a time we have a state surplus exceeding $750 million.
• Concessions and “retail services” at the lookouts — a private concessionaire at Waimea Canyon in the parking lot (selling refreshments, cookies, candies, chips, post cards and souvenirs) and development of a separate permanent concession and visitor center that is part of the Waimea Canyon Lookout area.
• Lower elevation lookout(s) with “typical amenities.” Driving up the Waimea Canyon Road, we celebrate the beauty of the mountain with a view all the way to the ocean. Having a parking lot, view platform, bus parking, ADA bathroom facility, kiosks, concessions, railings and other “typical amenities” will blight the view rather than preserve it.
• Tripling the size of the Kalalau Lookout parking lot and expanding the lookout.
• Adding bus parking to Pu‘u Hinahina Lookout, the museum area and other lookouts.
• Expanded development in the vicinity of the Kanaloahuluhulu Meadow (e.g. visitor center, expanded museum, concession, retail and possible visitor lodging facility), and necessarily enlarging the parking area. Although the reference to the 40- to 60-room hotel is being removed, the design, scope, location and size of these facilities will likely be determined by an RFP through a private developer.
We seem to be on the brink of allowing the ever-increasing tourist demands to exceed our political resolve to protect our cherished Koke‘e. And the irony is that these changes threaten the very characteristics that draw the tourists as well as locals to the mountain.
Hawai‘i Revised Statutes Section 164-6 mandates that our DLNR “preserve the park and parkways in the state park system in their natural condition so far as may be consistent with their use and safety and improve them in such manner as to retain to a maximum extent their natural, scenic, historic and wildlife values for the use and enjoyment of the public.” This statute, for some reason, was omitted from the master plan EIS, but should be its guide. The balance must always favor the mountain over the visitor.
Every square foot of asphalt that is laid down where there is none, every place that is no longer respected and treasured for its inherent unadorned beauty, every place that is filled with shopping tourists and idling buses rather than apapane or maile, is a place we can never retrieve for our children and grandchildren.
Nancy J. Budd
Lihu‘e
Keystone cops in action
The KPD could not catch a guy on a moped?! (“Byron Say runs afoul of the law again,” Jan. 6) A moped?! What on earth were they using for the “chase,” tricycles?
Michael Mann
‘Ele‘ele
Lionheart
Our members of the Kauai North Shore Lions have all felt the tremendous loss of our fellow Lion, Michael Van De Veer, in December 2006. To add recognition to his many notable endeavors, well summarized by Jon Letman (“Michael on my heart,” Guest Voice, Dec. 31), we would want our Kaua‘i folks to know more about his Lions’ project, “Eyes of Nepal.”
Some six or seven years or more have now passed since Lion Michael attended one of our meetings, just after his return from a visit to Nepal. He pointed out to us that Nepal is located at a high elevation and the very strong sunlight had damaged the eyesight of many of the Nepalese at all ages. Further, he showed us photos of very crude medical equipment and procedures for removing cataracts of the eyes. Hand-held flashlights were being used, along with the most primitive of medical devices. He said he felt like Nepal was in the Stone Age, as far as eye care was concerned.
Recognizing that “sight conservation” has been the primary focus of Lions International‘s programs worldwide for nearly a century, Lion Michael began to implement a project that eventually became known as the “Eyes of Nepal.” He started by locating donated used optical surgery equipment. Many such donations over the years eventually led to a very expensive auto-refractor recently donated by Dr. Larry Sherrer of the Pacific Eye Center on Kaua’i. Each piece of equipment would be personally packaged by Lion Michael, and hand-delivered to eye doctors in Nepal. Nepali customs officers were always a major challenge for Lion Michael. They would ask for outrageous customs fees, often more than the donated equipment was worth. With Lion Michael’s quiet way of persuasion, he would often find that something simple, like a bottle of spirits would resolve the issues.
Lion Michael did receive recognition and financial support from our Kauai North Shore Lions to offset some of his expenses. He received major recognition by State of Hawaii Lions District 50, together with a Certificate of Appreciation from the District Governor. The many Lions Clubs in Nepal have continually heaped their honors and praise, recognizing Lion Michael’s efforts. Lion Michael’s spirit will definitely live on in our hearts and memories. He was truly a great Lion at heart.
Lion Alan Fayé
Member and past president
Kauai North Shore Lions
